Chapter 544
The carriage, driven by the slaves, slowly left the fishing pier.
Mikallesus looked at the fishermen and laborers on both sides of the road as they watched him leave. Only then did he realize why he felt a little strange when he came to the dock. Usually, when he came to the dock, the fishermen would greet him and greet him, but today, other than the few fishermen he hired, everyone else was silent. The entire dock was shrouded in a strange silence …
This made him feel uneasy.
… …
In fact, just as Mikallesus was rushing to the pier, the news of Syracuse's army's defeat in Great Greece had begun to spread in the city.
The citizens of Syracuse who learned of this shocking news rushed to the city hall near the square with suspicion and panic. They wanted to question the temporary supreme commander of Syracuse, Philistos, to verify the authenticity of the news.
Compared to the increasing number of people gathered outside the city hall, it was unusually quiet inside. There were only a few people in the governor's conference room, but all of them looked solemn. They had not only received the news of Syracuse's army's defeat, but also General Dionysius's order for Syracuse to send reinforcements.
"This is unbelievable! 80,000 soldiers, more than 400 warships … Such a powerful force, and yet they lost to Diónia, who is weaker than us! "Herolis sighed, breaking the silence in the room.
"No one can always win, especially in such a difficult sea expedition. As long as the final victory belongs to Syracuse, with the wealth and population of Great Greece, all the sacrifices will be worth it. Lord Herolis, am I right? "The Chief of Intelligence, Hipparinus, looked at him and said coldly.
"Yes, if we can win!" Herolis did not avoid his threatening gaze, and said in a serious tone, "But that is only if! The current situation is that our Lord Dionysius and the citizens of Syracuse are besieged in Siletina, which is two to three days' journey from us, waiting for us to send reinforcements! "
"My lords, I have never doubted the final victory of this war!" Philistos spoke loudly to dilute the potential conflict between the two. "Dionia's performance has indeed surprised me, but I think they must have given it their all for the sake of victory. On the other hand, Syracuse still has sufficient manpower and financial resources. As long as we can organize another army and send it to Greece, Diónia won't be able to resist us! "
"You're right, Philistos." "But to build an army of twenty thousand men and a hundred warships in such a short period of time is not an easy task."
"It's not easy." Felistos said firmly, "But we must do it. This is a matter of life and death for Syracuse!"
He then looked at Masias, the former leader of Campania's mercenaries, who was appointed by Dionysius as the commander of the garrison. "General, how many more citizen soldiers do you think Syracuse can recruit?"
Masias thought for a moment before answering, "At least ten thousand. We can mobilize more than five thousand people outside the city, but inside the city — "At this point, Masias unconsciously looked out of the hall with a worried expression." With the current situation, I'm afraid it's not easy to mobilize for war again. "
The 'outside the city' that Masias was referring to was not the port or the bay, but the mercenaries that Dionysius had placed in the outskirts of the city. He had given them citizenship and land, making them more loyal to Dionysius. Dionysius had moved the population of the conquered city-states many times, and had also placed mercenaries mainly from Campania to occupy the land that the neighboring city-states had been forced to give up. In the past few years, Syracuse had built dozens of new villages outside the city, causing the territory that Syracuse controlled to expand rapidly. It was now the most powerful city in Sicily, and even in the western Mediterranean. But this also caused the conflict between the people in the city, the people outside the city, and the people in the port to worsen day by day.
Felistos rubbed his brow, clearly feeling a headache from the growing resentment of the people. He said, "Harolis, I'll leave the recruitment of soldiers in the city to you."
"Me?" Little Passenger looked at Felistos in surprise.
"I can't help it. The people like you more, and only you can succeed," Felistos said half-jokingly, but his expression was very serious.
Harolis was a little hesitant. He wanted to argue a few times, but stopped himself. Finally, he shrugged helplessly and said, "Alright, leave it to me."
Felistos was half relieved by Lucien's promise. He continued, "Last time, we didn't recruit soldiers from Gela, Kamanlina, Agrigento … those city-states on the south coast. Now, let's fill the remaining vacancies from them. Lord Calidemus, the mission of 'sending envoys to these city-states and getting them to send troops' will be left to you. "
Calidemus, who had been silent all this time, stole a glance at Hipparinus. Seeing him nod slightly, Calidemus said, "I will immediately go to these city-states to ask for troops!"
As a relative of Hipparinus and a confidant of Dionysius, Calidemus was a courtier whose power was second only to Felistos. When Dionysius was not in the city, he actually had a secret mission to keep Felistos in check. Therefore, without Hipparinus' consent, he would not easily leave Syracuse.
As if he did not see the silent exchange between the two, Felistos continued, "The land troops are easy to solve, but the warships are much more troublesome. We do not have time to build new warships, and without a strong fleet, even if we have more troops, we cannot send them to Greece. Therefore, when you go to the city-states in the south to recruit soldiers, you will also have to ask for warships. I think with the more than 50 three-oared warships docked at the port, we can barely form a fleet of 100 warships. But this is not enough. We still need more three-oared warships to defeat the Dionysian fleet. So, I will send envoys to Cyrenaica to buy or rent their existing three-oared warships … "
Harolis could not help but say, "We have borrowed a lot of money from Cyrenaica and have not yet paid back. Why would Cyrenaica lend us warships?!"
"It is precisely because we have not paid back the money that we can get their warships." Felistos smiled.
Harolis immediately understood what he meant: if Cyrenaica wanted to get back the capital and interest they had lent to Syracuse, it would be best for them to help Syracuse win the war. Otherwise, Syracuse would be finished, and Cyrenaica would lose everything.
"Well, my lords, please go and carry out your mission immediately. I hope that in five days, we can form the reinforcements and fleet that Lord Dionysius needs! "Felistos' voice was gentle, but the order was quite firm.
Everyone took their leave, but Felistos stopped Harolis again. "We still need you to persuade the rioting people at the gate."
Harolis smiled helplessly again. "Alright, I will try. But even if I can persuade them this time, they will come again next time. "
"The situation will be different next time!" Felistos said confidently.
"I hope so," Harolis replied expressionlessly.
After everyone left, Hipparinus said with dissatisfaction, "Lord Felistos, I have reminded you that when Lord Dionysius led his army away from Sicily, Harolis was close to Filosanus and the others. He even declared at a banquet that 'the power of the king is nothing but a gaudy shroud'. He openly expressed his dissatisfaction with Lord Dionysius. I hope you can temporarily imprison him until Lord Dionysius returns. But not only did you object, you even gave him power. What if — "
"What Harolis said at the banquet was drunken talk. There is no need to take it seriously. Besides, I know Filosanus and the others very well. Other than drinking and talking, they can't do much … "As a scholar, Felistos had a better understanding of the group. Considering Hipparinus' identity, he patiently advised," Even though Harolis has some minor problems, he has outstanding abilities. For example, quelling the resentment of the people outside, and more importantly, recruiting citizen soldiers … Who else but him can do these things well? In such a terrible situation, he is my best helper! "
"He has such a great influence among the people. If he wants to cause trouble, the damage will be even greater!" Hipparinus said coldly.
"Have you found anything?" Felistos asked.
"Not yet. But his slaves have been entering and leaving the port more than usual. The port is in chaos now, and there are many rumors. I am afraid that there are spies from Diónia causing trouble! "
Hipparinus' words caused Felistos' expression to become serious. "Monitoring the people's abnormalities and ensuring the safety of the city is your responsibility. I have no right to stop you. If I find that Harolis is doing anything that is detrimental to Syracuse, I will not care about our friendship and will imprison him! After all, if there is a riot in Syracuse, the safety of all of us will be threatened! " Felistos' expression was cold, and at the same time, he was subtly reminding Hipparinus that as Dionysius's most loyal follower and relative, Hipparinus' impression of the people was not much better than Dionysius's. They were all in the same boat.
"Lord Hipparinus, I have decided to send two hundred mercenaries to the port. I also hope that you can ferret out the spies from Diónia in the port as soon as possible and restore order to the port!"
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